Stay On Target

It seems I am going through a phase of uncertainty as to what exactly I want to do with my modelling/painting time!

• Completed painting a Phoenix Battleship and a Cobra Cruiser for my Thaniras fleet (TUS)
• Continued painting the Dark Angels Rhino (WH40K)
• Started painting 4 bases of Teutonic Brother-knights (FoG)
• Resumed conversion work on my Grey Knight character (Inquisitor)

The Thaniras Elf fleet got another run last weekend with a small 400 point battle against the mighty Iron Dwarves. Things started off really well when I managed to engage the three dwarven cruisers on their own with almost my entire fleet. It all went pear-shaped from there as the Gods of Dice deserted me and the dwarven flame-throwing Belcher submarines got close enough to engage. Needless to say, it wasn't pretty!

Witnessing a game of Inquisitor last Sunday has inspired me to resume work on converting my Grey Knight model, after more years than I care to admit of ignoring it. The image below is a work in progress - well, it was going to be the final product, but then I got ambitious and decided to rip his hands off and try and model a nemesis force halberd... I'm also not 100% happy with the way the book on the chestplate turned out. We'll have to wait and see how it goes...

Another parcel from Forge World just arrived containing the Renegade Psykers and Nurgle Chaos Marine Sorcerer. I might have to put the Grey Knight on hold and resume modelling Plague Zombies to finish the psyker battle squad for the Renegade Guard army now that the daemonhost leading it has arrived. Or maybe I should just finish one thing before returning to the other - there's likely another Inquisitor game next meeting, so I need to get him finished and painted!

I'm getting keen to have another game of FoG too, so I've been concentrating on continuing with the Teutonic Order army during my lunch breaks at work. It really is a pain in the arse painting white, but after if I get all the Order models finished first, I'll be able to relax with the native rabble to finish the army off. Also, I may be able to at least borrow some miniatures for a game or two if I have the distinctive core elements all done...

Until next time...

Slow Going

I've been chopping and changing a lot this week. Unfortunately no models completed (gasp!), but I have returned to a number of old(er) projects:

• Continued painting Dark Angels Rhino (WH40K)
• Glued together a Renegade Militia Heavy Weapon Team and converted some Plague Zombies for the Battle Psyker Squad (WH40K)
• Started painting another Cobra Cruiser and a Phoenix Battleship for my Thaniras Elves fleet (TUS)
• Constructed four six more tiles for my modular terrain board.

Reading the Battle Missions book (WH40K) and re-reading Siege of Vraks, Volume 1 has given me some inspiration to make more terrain. Four of the new terrain tiles I made are trench tiles, making enough for a single defensive trench line to stretch across the width of the game board when playing length-wise. This should add a little spice variation to our games in the future!

The renegade milita conversion set left me with a lot of spare Cadian guardsmen bodies, and these are coming in nice and handy for the Plague zombies that will make up the numbers in my psyker battle squad. I've ordered the rather cool renegade psyker pack from Forge World that'll provide me with a suitable model for a daemonhost to lead the pack of living dead into battle.

Re-focusing my efforts into The Uncharted Seas for the club meeting next weekend has necessitated the removal of the Inquisitor models from my painting table. This is probably a good thing, as I have renewed enthusiasm for completing the conversion of the Space Marine miniature for Inquisitor into a Grey Knight, and that wasn't something I wanted to rush!

Well - TUS is top of my priority list at the moment, and I really should make a final decision on which FoG army to use at Lionheart in May. Teutonic Order versus Muromachi Japanese versus Nikephorian Byzantine (tried and tested - and very little left to paint to make the army viable!). Decisions, decisions...

Angelus Acerbus

The end of this week heralded a change of direction:

• Completed painting two Teutonic Order Sub-commanders (FoG).
• Started painting one Dark Angels Rhino APC (WH40K).
• Undercoated six more Dark Angels Tactical Marines (WH40K) and glued together a unit of five Dark Angels Scouts.

The resurgent interest in Warhammer 40,000 in our group has given me some more incentive to get some progress done on my Dark Angels army. Completion of the Rhino and marines listed above will enable me to field a complete 500 point army to get the troops gamed with.

I picked up a copy of the Battle Missions book for WH40K on the weekend, and I like it (with a couple of notable exceptions). For the most part the various missions seem to be a variation in one form or another of the different combinations available in the main rulebook. However, each includes its own variant on victory conditions and a special rule or two to add a little spice to the game. I think most of them are well done and will add some interesting tactical challenges to our games.

The Uncharted Seas is looking likely for the next meeting, and a suggestion of slightly larger games means I will once more need to alter my planned painting schedule to squeeze in a few more ships. My enthusiasm for Inquisitor is waning a little - maybe I'll give it a miss this time and see how well it gets taken up by our group. I have got to start rationalising what I paint!

I've had a brief scan of my Painting Tally (left), and it seems this blog is at least achieving its primary stated aim: get me painting more models! I think I have probably painted more figures in the first two months of this year than I did in the entirety of 2009. Just need to ensure I keep the momentum going...

A Change of Plans?

Another week passes, and a couple more mini's painted:

• Completed two bases of Teutonic Order 'Crusader' Knights (FoG).
• Started painting two Teutonic Order Sub-commander bases (FoG).
• Completed building the Renegade Militia Leman Russ Punisher and Sentinel (WH40K), adding a few etched-brass icons and plates.

It looks like a game of Inquisitor is on the cards for the next club meeting. I've been keen to play this game ever since getting the first edition of the rulebook many years ago. A distinct lack of opponents has made this impossible, but now's my chance! The only problem is my figs are unpainted, and one was recently 'accidentally knocked over' onto the floor and shattered into its constituent parts... Such a pain in the arse gluing models together!

I've been doing a little thinking about the Teutonic Order list, and still haven't come to a conclusion. I know the benefits of having a high number of battlegroups, but I'm still rather averse to the idea of half my army being made up of poor quality troops. An Inspired Commander C-in-C may mitigate this somewhat, but is it enough? Still pondering... At least what I've painted to date is the immutable core of the list, so I still have some time before being forced into any further decisions.

My youngest daughter's second birthday last weekend reigned in my opportunities to paint over the weekend, so I'm lagging quite a bit behind on getting the Teutonics painted. The Inquisitor figures will further slow this down. Maybe I need to reconsider the list and make it a little more 'elite' to reduce the number of figures to paint!

Well, a short post this time, more next week.